Filling valve having a valve body and an essentially cylindrical displacement part

ABSTRACT

A filling valve for the metered delivery of a flow of liquid medium containing particles includes a valve housing having a flow chamber with an inlet and an outlet opening, a valve body for opening and closing the outlet opening, and actuating means for displacing the valve body between an open and a closed position, in which the valve body bears in a sealing manner against seat in the valve housing. The valve body includes a substantially cylindrical displacement part at its bottom end, and the valve housing, at its bottom end, delimits a substantially cylindrical outflow duct, in which the displacement part accurately fits slideably into the outflow duct, in such a manner that the displacement part fills the outflow duct in the closed position for at least three quarters of its length. The ratio of the length to the diameter of the outflow duct is larger than 1.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS:

The present application claims the benefit of Dutch Patent Applications Nos. NL 1028458, filed Mar. 4, 2005, and NL 1029640, filed Jul. 28, 2005, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a filling valve for the metered delivery of a flow of liquid medium containing solid particles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many kinds of filling valves are known from the prior art. In many cases, these comprise a valve housing having a flow chamber connected to a medium supply. In the flow chamber, an actuable valve body is accommodated for opening and closing an outlet opening provided at the bottom. In the closed position, a circumferential wall part of the valve body bears against a seat provided in the valve housing in a sealing manner.

With a filling valve of this type which is currently being used by the applicant, a pipe section is provided here at the bottom of the valve housing. The purpose thereof is to prevent dripping from any medium remaining in the pipe section after a filling cycle as a result of capillary action.

In this case, it is a drawback, however, that with aqueous solutions, optionally containing particles, the capillary action is insufficient and dripping nevertheless occurs.

In addition, EP-1 000 898 B, for example, discloses a filling valve with which low-viscosity products can be filled. In order to prevent dripping, the bottom of the valve body is in this case provided with a stepped end, the diameter of which decreases in the downward direction.

In this case, it is a drawback, however, that when containers are filled with aqueous solutions containing particles, the particles may become lodged, as a result of which the liquid may start to squirt and/or spurt out at an angle.

Furthermore, a filling machine for filling containers is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,973. This known filling machine comprises a tank which is in communication with a metering chamber via an inlet opening. The metering chamber comprises a metering mechanism with a piston/cylinder assembly. The metering chamber has an outlet opening. The assembly is designed for opening and closing the inlet opening and outlet opening, and to this end comprises two valve elements which are connected to one another in such a manner that, in the open position of the inlet opening, the outlet opening is closed and, in the open position of the outlet opening, the inlet opening is closed. The purpose thereof is to prevent leakage from the tank to the metering chamber, when the outlet opening of the latter is open and the action of the filling machine is interrupted. In one embodiment, the outlet opening comprises an outlet duct of a certain length which, in the closed position, is completely filled with a displacement part of the closure element.

EP 0850 838 A1 discloses a filling valve for the metered delivery of fluids, in which the outlet is adapted to the type of fluid. For example, for a foam-forming fluid, a wide discharge nozzle with flow reduction means and a series of screens interrupting the jet is provided. This embodiment is not suitable for filling containers with a liquid product containing particles. With a denser and more viscous product, a closure element is used which cuts off the product strand when the supply is interrupted.

EP-A-0 534 913 discloses a filling valve having a vertical flow chamber, which at its bottom is provided, at its bottom, with a cylindrical outflow duct at a decentralised position. The valve body is provided with a cylindrical displacement part slideable in the outflow duct. The valve housing does not have a seat for the valve body, indicating that no pressure is exerted on the medium to be metered in the closed position. This known filling valve is of the plunger filling type, wherein firstly the medium is sucked in and then pressed away.

DE-A-19 918 430 discloses also a filling valve of the plunger filling type, wherein the medium is sucked in by relative movement of two sleeves with respect to each other, which sleeves are positioned directly in a storage tank for the medium.

From U.S. Pat. No. 2,770,397 a filling valve is known functioning according to the principle of communicating vessels.

FR-A-664 686 discloses a filling valve, wherein the valve body (without actuating means) is raised by the forces of the liquid flow in open position of a tap and consequently set the outflow duct free. In closed position there is no flow of liquid and due to its own weight the valve body sinks into the outflow duct.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to at least partly eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages and/or to provide a usable alternative. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a reliable filling valve which is well suited for metered delivery of aqueous solutions containing particles, and in which dripping is further reduced to a minimum, even if the inlet of the filling valve is in open communication continuously with a supply line of the solution to the filling valve, in particular a pressurized solution. It is another object of the invention to achieve the seemingly incompatible sub-objectives of reducing the risk of squirting and/or spurting out (at an angle) during delivery of a flow of a liquid medium containing solid particles and of reducing the risk of dripping.

This object is achieved by a filling valve, in which, for example, the filling valve comprises a valve housing having a flow chamber with an inlet and an outlet opening. An actuable valve body is accommodated in the flow chamber for opening and closing the outlet opening. To this end, actuating means for displacing the valve body between an open and a closed position are provided. In the closed position, a circumferential wall part of the valve body bears against a seat provided in the valve housing in a sealing manner. At its bottom end, the valve body comprises a substantially cylindrical displacement part, while the valve housing, at its bottom end, is provided with a substantially cylindrical outflow duct adjoining the flow chamber. This outflow duct helps to make the flow of medium flow out in the desired direction. The outflow duct has a cylindrical shape which is favourable in view of hygiene. The displacement part accurately fits displaceably, for example slideably, into the outflow duct, and is designed to fill the outflow duct in the closed position for at least three quarters of its length. Thus, when the valve body is displaced into the closed position, the displacement part as it were empties the outflow duct for at least three quarters of its length. According to the invention the ratio of the length to the diameter is greater than 1. On the one hand this eliminates squirting and on the other hand this prevents dripping, with capillary action only playing a minor role, if any, and the displacement part can be of simple design. Tests have shown that the filling valve is very well suited to the metered delivery of flows of liquid medium containing particles, in particular fruit juices containing fruit pulp particles and/or fruit chunks. In this case, the fruit chunks may even have dimensions as large as 9×9×9 mm. Surprisingly, it has been found that, although in the closed position, the sealing of the outflow opening is effected by the circumferential wall part of the valve body that bears against the seat of the valve housing, the length of the outflow duct needs to be larger than its diameter in order to minimize the chance of dripping upon closure and to prevent squirting during dosing. This is particularly true for a flow of liquid medium containing particles which is metered under pressure.

In a preferred embodiment the outflow duct has a minimum length of 6 mm, more preferably a minimum length of 12 mm. A minimum length of 6 mm, with the proviso of the above described ratio, reduces the chance of squirting using a medium flow containing particles.

In a further embodiment, the ratio of the length to the diameter of the outflow duct is greater than 1, more particularly greater than 1.5, advantageously approximately 1.8-2.0.

In an advantageous variant, the actuating means are not only designed to move the valve body up and down between the open and the closed position, but they are also designed to cause a rotary movement of the valve body in the closed position. Thus, particles in the flow of medium can be released. Consideration may be given to fibrous particles such as those occurring in fruit juices. These particles may become lodged between the valve body and the valve housing, and may otherwise cause dripping and the like. In addition to a continuous rotation, the rotary movement may also comprise a reciprocating rotation about the longitudinal axle of the valve body.

Further embodiments are defined in the subclaims. In particular, the filling valve is designed for metering of a pressurized medium, wherein there is an open communication between the flow chamber and the medium supply both in the closed and in the open position of the filling valve. A pump and the like can be provided in the medium supply between a storage tank of the medium and the inlet of the flow chamber in order to allow a pressurized supply of the medium. Operation of the filling valve with a medium continuously pressurized in the flow chamber has the advantage that no inlet valve needs to be present in the inlet. In addition the risk of contamination of the valve is reduced, because a smaller number of parts contact the medium flow.

According to a second aspect, the invention relates to the use of the filling valve according to the invention. The viscosity of the flow of liquid medium is advantageously in the region of 1-100 mPas. At a viscosity of 1 mPas, the flow of medium is a low-viscosity product with a maximum risk of squirting. At a viscosity greater than 100 mPas, the product is so viscous that it remains stuck in a discharge duct as a result of capillary action.

According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a filling device for filling containers with a flow of liquid medium containing particles, which device comprises a filling valve according to the invention, in which the flow chamber is in communication with a pressure supply via the inlet opening for the pressurized supply of the medium to the flow chamber. According to this aspect of the invention, the filling device comprises a pressure supply for the pressurized supply of the flow of medium, such as fruit juice containing fibres, from a tank to the flow chamber. In a further preferred embodiment, the supply remains in open communication with the flow chamber, both in the closed and in the open position of the valve body. There is therefore no second valve body present in the filling valve for periodically closing and opening the inlet opening. The filling device can now be used in metering by volume or weight in which the medium to be filled into containers in the flow chamber is under continuous pressure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a first embodiment of a filling valve according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a view according to FIG. 1 of a second embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows a partial view of the bottom end of a variant of the filling valve; and

FIG. 4 shows a partial view according to FIG. 3 of a further variant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 the filling valve is denoted in its entirety by reference numeral 1. The filling valve 1 comprises a valve housing 2 made up of several parts. The wall parts of the valve housing 2 delimit a flow chamber 3. The flow chamber 3 contains an elongate valve body 4 which can be moved up and down relative to the valve housing 2 by actuating means 5 between an open and a closed position. FIG. 1 shows the closed position, in which an outlet opening 7 provided at the bottom of the flow chamber 3 is sealed by the valve body 4. The flow chamber 3 is furthermore provided with an inlet opening (not shown in FIG. 1) which adjoins a pressure supply (not shown) for the pressurized supply of a liquid containing particles from a liquid tank (likewise not shown) to the flow chamber 3.

The valve body 4 comprises a stem-shaped initial part 4 a which merges with a thickened central part 4 b which in turn merges with a cylindrical displacement part 4 c.

At its bottom end, the valve housing 2 delimits a cylindrical outlet duct 10 which, at the top end, adjoins the flow chamber 3 and, at the bottom end, forms the outlet opening 7.

The displacement part 4 c accurately fits slideably in the outflow duct 10, the length of the displacement part 4 c substantially corresponding to the length of the outflow duct 10. This ensures that the displacement part 4 c completely fills the outflow duct 10 in the closed position.

A substantially radially extending circumferential wall part 12 is situated between the central part 4 b and the displacement part 4 c, which circumferential wall part 12, in the closed position of the valve body 4, axially bears in a sealing manner against a seat 13, which is located in the valve housing 2 at the location of the passage from the flow chamber 3 to the outflow duct 10.

The outflow duct 10 has a length greater than 12 mm. Furthermore, in this case the ratio of the length to the diameter of the outflow duct 10 is greater than 1. This minimum length and minimum ratio between the length and the diameter of the outflow duct 10 give the liquid a desired outflow direction in the open position of the valve body 4 while preventing squirting and also eliminating dripping in the closed position.

If, in use, the valve body 4 is in the open position, that is to say when the displacement part 4 c is at some distance above the outflow duct 10, medium will be discharged from the valve housing 2 at the bottom via the outlet opening 7. As soon as a desired dose of medium has thus been discharged from the filling valve 1 via the outlet opening 7, the actuating means 5 will move the valve body 4 downwards. In this case, the outflow duct 10 is emptied by the displacement part 4 c of the valve body 4. At the end of the downward stroke of the valve body 4, the said circumferential wall part 12 at least partially comes to bear radially in a sealing manner against the seat 13, while the situation is also brought about where the displacement part 4 c has completely emptied the outflow duct 10.

The actuating means 5 are not only designed to move the valve body 4 up and down, but are also capable of rotating the valve body 4 relative to the valve housing 2. By causing the valve body 4 to rotate or to execute a rotary movement in the closed position by suitably driving the actuating means 5, any particles present in the flow of medium which have become lodged between the valve body 4 and the valve housing 2 during the closing process can still be released and thus no longer hinder a good sealing of the valve body 4 in the valve housing 2 or cause dripping or the like.

FIG. 2 shows a variant in which identical parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. An important difference here is that the displacement part 21 is not as long as the discharge duct 22. FIG. 2 also shows the closed position, in which only a minimal clear space remains in the discharge duct 22 at the bottom of the displacement part 21 as a result of the difference in length. The end of the displacement part 21 is of conical design in this case. The differences in length are such that the displacement part 21 fills at least three quarters of the length of the outflow duct 22. Furthermore, the length of the outflow duct 22 is at least 12 mm in this case too, in particular approximately 18 mm, while the diameter of the outlet opening 7 has again been chosen such that the ratio of the length to the diameter of the outflow duct 22 is greater than 1. In particular, in FIG. 2, this ratio is approximately 1.4. The length of the minimal space which remains clear at the bottom of the discharge duct 22 is in this case between 0 and 5 mm, more particularly this length is approximately 3 mm here.

Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows a pressure supply 25, one end of which runs into the inlet opening 26 of the flow chamber 3 and which remains in open communication with the flow chamber 3 in every position of the valve body 4. The other end is in communication with a tank (not shown).

Finally, it is also significant that with the variant of FIG. 2, the central part 4 b of the valve body 4 is provided with guide fins 28. These serve to centre the valve body 4 in the flow chamber 3.

FIG. 3 shows a further variant of the bottom of the filling valve at the location of the displacement part. In this case, a stem-shaped valve body 30 is provided, the bottom end of which forms a cylindrical displacement part. Furthermore, a valve housing 31 is provided which delimits a cylindrical outflow duct 32 at its bottom end. The outflow duct 32 is delimited at the bottom by a wall part 34 of the valve housing 31 which wall part 34 radially projects inwardly and forms a seat there against which the bottom end 35 of the valve body 30 comes to bear in a sealing manner in the closed position. Thus a filling valve is also provided in which the displacement part of the valve body 30 accurately fits slideably in the outflow duct 32 in order to fill the latter to at least three quarters full in the closed position.

FIG. 4 shows a further variant of this, the valve body 30 being provided at its bottom end with a narrowing end part 36 which extends beyond the bottom of the valve housing in the closed position. This advantageously ensures that there is no more clear space left at the bottom end of the outflow duct so that this is completely emptied during a closing movement.

Many variants are possible in addition to the embodiments shown. Thus, the various components of the filling valve can be of different design and/or be constructed with different relative proportions.

Thus, a filling valve is provided which, in an open position, can dispense a very stable, directed flow of medium which can be accurately metered, while efficiently preventing dripping in the closed position. The filling valve is advantageously of simple design and is inexpensive to produce. Finally, the filling valve is easy to clean due to its simple design. 

1. Filling valve for the metered delivery of a flow of liquid medium containing particles, comprising: a valve housing having a flow chamber with an inlet and an outlet opening; an actuable valve body accommodated in the flow chamber for opening and closing the outlet opening; and actuating means for displacing the valve body between an open and a closed position; in which a wall part of the valve body, in the closed position, bears against a seat provided in the valve housing in a sealing manner, in which the valve body comprises a substantially cylindrical displacement part at its bottom end, and the valve housing, at its bottom end, is provided with a substantially cylindrical outflow duct adjoining the flow chamber, and in which the displacement part accurately fits displaceably into the outflow duct, in such a manner that the displacement part fills the outflow duct in the closed position for at least three quarters of its length, and wherein the ratio of the length to the diameter of the outflow duct is greater than
 1. 2. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the outflow duct has a minimum length of 6 mm.
 3. Filling valve according to claim 2, in which the outflow duct has a minimum length of 12 mm.
 4. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the ratio of the length to the diameter of the outflow duct is greater than 1.5.
 5. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the valve body bears against the seat provided in the valve housing in a sealing manner in the closed position.
 6. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the actuating means are also designed to cause a rotary movement of the valve body in the closed position.
 7. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the valve seat is provided in a bottom part of the outflow duct.
 8. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the valve seat is provided at the top of the outflow duct.
 9. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the outflow duct is at most 5 mm longer than the displacement part.
 10. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the displacement part substantially fills the outflow duct completely in the closed position.
 11. Filling valve according to claim 1, in which the flow chamber is in communication with a medium supply for pressurized supply of the medium to the flow chamber via the inlet opening.
 12. Filling valve according to claim 11, in which the medium supply is in open communication with the flow chamber both in the closed and in the open position of the valve body.
 13. Use of a filling valve according to claim 1 for the metered delivery of a flow of liquid medium containing particles, in particular fruit juice containing fruit pulp particles and/or fruit chunks, to containers.
 14. Use according to claim 13, in which the flow chamber is in communication with a medium supply for pressurized supply of the medium to the flow chamber via the inlet opening.
 15. Use according to claim 14, in which the medium supply is in open flow communication with the flow chamber both in the closed and in the open position of the valve body.
 16. Use according to claim 13, in which the medium has a viscosity in the range of 1-100 mPas.
 17. Filling device for filling containers with a flow of liquid medium containing particles, which device comprises a filling valve according to claim 1, in which the flow chamber is in communication with a medium supply via the inlet opening for the pressurized supply of the medium to the flow chamber, which medium supply is in communication with a storage tank of the medium.
 18. Filling device according to claim 17, in which the medium supply is in open communication with the flow chamber, both in the closed and in the open position of the valve body. 